Rapids Face KC in U.S. Open Cup Qualifier

COMMERCE CITY, Colo. – The Colorado Rapids’ journey into the 2010 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup will start on the road for a third straight year.

The Rapids are scheduled to play the Kansas City Wizards in a play-in match for qualification for America’s oldest sporting tournament on Tuesday, April 13 at 8:30 p.m. MT at Stanley H. Durwood Stadium and Recreational Field on the campus of the University of Missouri-Kansas City.

The Rapids and Wizards are scheduled to play their first of two regular season contests the preceding Saturday night in Kansas City.

Colorado advanced to a second qualifier game last year after defeating the LA Galaxy 4-2 in a penalty kick shootout at The Home Depot Center, before falling 0-1 to the eventual 2009 U.S. Open Cup champion Seattle Sounders FC at the Starfire Sports Complex in Washington.

If Colorado defeat Kansas City, their next qualifying match for the opportunity to reach the Round of 16 would be determined between the New York Red Bulls, Philadelphia Union and New England Revolution.

New York and Philadelphia will play first to determine New England’s opponent with the later winner moving on to face the Rapids-Wizards victor.

The Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, the U.S. Soccer Federation’s National Championship, is an annual competition open to all amateur and professional soccer teams affiliated with U.S. Soccer. It is the oldest annual team tournament in U.S. sports history and among the oldest soccer tournaments of its type in the world.

Consistent with 2008 and 2009, the format for 2010 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup will see six US-based MLS teams automatically qualify for the tournament’s round of 16, based on 2009 regular season finish, while the remaining nine U.S.-based MLS teams are forced to go through qualifying for two spots into the tournament.